Tag Archives: Get to Know

Post navigation

This morning I was almost late, which caused slight stress as I sat down to the boards, but I calmed myself with a little wintertime piece of music on this first day of December…

Hoppipolla – Sigur Ros

Sad that I didn’t go to The Majestic last night, a little bit of this…

The Lemon of Pink – The Books

Coming up in der Rath…

Next Best Thing – Toki Wright

Secrets – Headlights

Ms. You and Me – Smoking Popes

“On Rotation In The Office” (the fun part!!)

For Molly Lloyd, my boo…

Please Read The Letter – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

For one of my non-Music Committee friends, Eric Carlson, who at this point had been writing a paper for eleven hours, and also informed me that this song is actually about catching kids picking their noses (one of the GBV members was a former 4th grade teacher)…

Teenage FBI – Guided By Voices

For me…

So Everyone – Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy

Because even hip-hop loving Music Committee Director Matt Forrest loves this song and they’re selling out venues like ca-razy…

Home – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes

And the last two were mostly for me, again. Say what you will about the last track. I’m into it…

So I have managed to be at WSUM by 5 AM three weeks in a row. Online listeners to Club 770: The WUD Music Hour doubled this week, so I was pretty pumped about that.

Here’s how it went down. [download minus the Surfer Blood track which for some reason won’t go to my desktop]

The Upcoming Stuff Part:

Beach Comber – Real Estate

Death By Dust – Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson

Just Broke Up – Smoking Popes

The Freshest Kids – Toki Wright, Brother Ali, and Evidence

In honor of Bangerville becoming Fun Cartel and probably becoming something else by the time Friday gets here:

What You Know x One More Time – Matt Forrest

Okay, so it’s the “On Rotation in the Office” part!! The first track here is probably going to get me kicked off committee… whatever. The second one obviously makes up for it. This week featured what essentially turned into a “recently leaked” section…

Half Of My Heart (ft. Taylor Swift) – John Mayer

Catholic Pagans – Surfer Blood

Horchata – Vampire Weekend

By request, for Brandon Clementi:

Crown on the Ground – Sleigh Bells

By request of Ethan Berlin, but also kind of for Peter Truby because of, you know, the whole “in love with Angel Deradoorian” thing:

According to my last.fm account, I’ve listened to “Instruct Me” by The Drums fifty times in the last six months. (In that time period, I’ve only listened to “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” more… um, 94x.) And I mean, I like the rest of their stuff, too. In case you are yet unaware of this Brooklyn-based Florida group, check out their video for “Let’s Go Surfing.”

It’s currently 61 degrees in Madison and 81 degrees in Austin. In about 24 hours I will be exchanging my 3 layers (t-shirt, sweatshirt and wind breaker) for probably just a t-shirt and enjoying that 81 degree weather. I will also be leaving my beloved winter cap behind for a week of little to no sleep, thousands of bands, free beer and Texas barbeque.

This is not my first rodeo. I have been to SXSW the past two years and have seen some great music and some not so great music. I have been moved by the likes of Beirut and Phosphorescent only to be disappointed by A Place to Bury Strangers and The Mae Shi and also puzzled by acts like Telepathe and Free Blood (insert any other act who is equipped with only a mic and an ipod).

I have spoken with agents, some who embraced me with open arms and others who shut me out of their conversations or just asked me about the Music Committee’s budget. I have even been snuck into sold-out Cursive shows by band members of Bishop Allen only to be snubbed by other band members like Sam from the now defunct Narrator, who I had hung out with in Der Rathskeller only a week prior after I booked his band.

This year brings a whole new can of worms. I am ever closer to graduating college and it doesn’t look like my English major is going to pay off anytime soon. I am feeling the pressure of the future and the real world and with that this year’s trip has some added importance because I feel compelled to rub elbows, aggressively, with the industry’s best in hopes for a job in the future. At least I’m not Peter Truby, a 5th year senior with 3 majors and not a clue in the world what he wants to do but waste all his talent and intelligence in the music business.

On a more positive note there are some really great bands playing that I am looking forward to:

Let’s hear from some other Music Committee members who will be in attendance:

Erica Koehn

What are you expecting when you go down to SXSW?

I’m expecting for it to be insane, tons of people, so much music (both good and terrible), and for it to be extremely exhausting.

Who are you most excited to see?

Andrew Bird, Grizzly Bear, Manchester Orchestra, Department of Eagles, Explosions in the Sky, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Tallest Man on Earth, The Decemberists…Those are some I can think of off the top of my head.

What do you hope to take away or remember about the week?

I hope that I have a ton of fun, see some really great bands, meet some cool people, and overall just have a great experience worth remembering.

Maggie Rivard

What are you expecting when you go down to SXSW?

I expect the unexpected. I don’t know what’s in store. I know I’ll have an awesome time seeing solid bands and I’ll come back to Madison exhausted. There are some bands that I have been wanting to see for years, so it’ll be a satisfying week. I’m pretty pumped. And I’m really excited to see Austin. I also expect to get sick of everyone I am going with and never want to see them ever ever again. Kidding.

Who are you most excited to see?

Grizzly Bear, hands down. On a similar note, Department of Eagles AND: Andrew Bird, The Decemberists, Phosphorescent (since I missed it last weekend), Akron/Family, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Tallest Man on Earth, Horse Feathers, Okkervil River, Indigo Girls, The Rosebuds, Cory Chisel, Women, Ladyhawke, Cotton Jones, Manchester Orchestra, Tori Amos, this is getting excessive. Yeah, there are a lot of bands I really want to see. Some of these may be in question considering I don’t have a fake ID. 21+ venues = worst possible idea EVER.

John Ash

Why do you rock so hard?

With the prevalent metal scene in town, it’s pretty hard not to.I’d say my biggest inspiration as far as rocking hard goes is definitely a local band called Lords of the Trident.They really know how to shred.Also, all the metal shows coming through town like Monotonix and the upcoming hard-rock showcase featuring Mouthful of Birds (a personal favorite) make it easy to rock out on a regular basis.

Do you recycle and why?

Most of the time, it seems like it’s an easy way to help the environment.
What is your take on the Madison music scene?

Overall, I think it’s pretty decent.We get some cool shows that other places don’t get probably due to there being a few respectable small to medium capacity venues around town.With that being said, I feel like we do miss out on a considerable amount of bands that are booked to play in Milwaukee at places like the Pabst and Turner Hall.

What is your favorite venue in town and why?

I’d say my favorite venue in town is the High Noon mainly due to the fact that I’ve seen more shows there than any of the other venues in town (excluding the Rath etc.).They also seem to consistently book bands I am interested in and usually have pretty cheap ticket prices which is cool too.

What have been your favorite memories from the year so far, music committee related and unrelated?

I’d say my favorite memories of the year so far include the cobra snake party and the Los Campesinos show.Also, I had a ton of fun embarking on an epic journey to a monster truck rally (that ended up being cancelled) with some fellow music committee members.As far as non-music committee memories go, I’ve just been having fun hanging out with friends and being here in general.